trans_9 | Newbie Meet N' Greet

Obi-Wan was, in a word, flabbergasted. Of all the things he had not been expecting, this was by far the most remote of them. For a moment he simply looked from one to the other, then shook his head, "Well, I see that you know each other?"

Why was it that we seemed completely incapable of training a Padawan that could maintain a proper Jedi lack of attachment?

"Yes, I know him."

At least she had felt Luke coming, so there was no reflexive move to defend herself. Just wide eyed shock as the man she'd known for nine years suddenly grabbed onto her, pulling her in tightly while he practically glowed with delight. Mara's arms rested against his back out of reflex while she tried to figure out just what the hell was going on.

"Skywalker, I know you haven't seen me in a few months, but I don't think it quite warrants this." She wasn't even going to touch that 'love' comment just yet. One thing at a time. A hint of a smile tugged at her lips, his happiness was infectious.

"It's been over a year," Luke murmured, finally easing up and relaxing his hold on her--but not all the way, just enough to take half a step back and look her in the eye.

The downside to Mara having those distinct, beautiful emerald eyes was that when he looked into them, he had to fight down a flare of guilt. Things with Arha hadn't gotten far, but he'd come close to what he felt was betraying Mara, and with her standing here in his arms, it hit Luke in the gut like a brick. He did a fair job of keeping it off his face, but as to how much she'd picked up, he wasn't sure.

"I've missed you, Mara," he said quietly, leaning his head against hers. "So much."

Obi-Wan rolled his eyes, and gave a soft cough. This was getting nowhere, very quickly.

"Well, I'll just leave this to you," he commented with mild sarcasm and a gentle hand on Luke's shoulder, "You seem to have things...ah...under control."

Mara barely noticed the other Jedi. She was too busy staring at Luke, trying to figure out what he was talking about. The last time she had seen him had been at his Academy just a few months ago. He'd barely had time to talk to her, and now he was practically hanging off of her. Confusion was thick around her, with some anxiety leaking in. She was not used to being manhandled like this.

"Skywalker, what are you talking about?" She silent added 'and why are you guilty?'.

He furrowed his brow at her. Didn't she remember? But Obi-Wan had reminded him of something, and Luke tore his eyes away from Mara's face to look at his mentor.

"I see you've met Ben Kenobi," he said.

Thank you, finally, he thought, uncharitably, but with more annoyance at himself than anything else. Obi-Wan nodded at Luke and turned a sardonic smile on Mara, "Is that acceptable proof for you, or should I fetch Anakin?"

"Anakin?"

She knew two Anakins, but only one of them was padawan to General Kenobi. And that Anakin was dead. Mara had just about hit her limit of insanity she was simply going to accept. Luke still had his arms around her, and she pulled back more so she could give him a serious look.

"I need some explanations, Skywalker. Now. Why am I talking to General Kenobi, hearing about Anakin, and why are you acting like you haven't seen me in an aeon?"

"I think we'd better all go sit somewhere," Luke said slowly, looking between his wife and his mentor. There was a lot of explaining to do, and he figured she'd end up sitting anyway; better to start out sitting down than get hurt falling over.

"I'm not going to like this," Obi-Wan warned, and it wasn't a question, but he nodded nonetheless and gestured for Luke to take the lead. This was going to be a long night. This was going to be a chat about the future, he knew, and so he bothered to ask, "Do I want to hear this story, Luke?"

"You know my father as he is now better than I do," Luke said, and felt a twinge of sadness at that. He hadn't talked to Anakin as much as he'd meant to since Obi-Wan's healing. "I'll let you know when you should go so you don't hear things you don't want to know, if that's all right with you." His hands loosened, only resting lightly on Mara's waist. Unless Mara herself removed them and shooed him away, Luke would stay close to her.

Mara had gotten distracted from talk of Luke's father by an observation she should have picked up awhile ago. One hand caught Luke by the chin, turning his face to look at her. She knew this man well enough to catch basic differences, and something was off.

"Farm boy, I don't know what you've been doing, but you look like you've aged a couple decades in the last couple of months. What kind of missions does the New Republic have you on?"

Luke stared at Mara, not comprehending her question at first. Older? What was she talking about? Okay, Caedus' war had more than likely added more gray hairs and a few wrinkles, but--

Then he started noticing things.

Mara would always be beautiful to him, of course, and in the over twenty years they'd been married she hadn't changed much to his eyes, but there were subtle things about her now, details he'd missed in the initial rush of joy at seeing her alive and holding her in his arms again. No strands of gray in her vibrant red hair, none of the fine lines on her face--that had all come after the Yuuzhan Vong, after Ben's birth.

Something was different here, very different, and Luke's brow furrowed as he realized it was because Mara was younger than she had been when--

Part of Luke's brain rebelled against this egregious error in judgment that was about to be committed, but the part of him that was completely dumbfounded by this thought beat that part into submission.

"Mara," he said slowly, "Forgive me for asking, but how old are you?"

Both eyebrows tried to disappear under that infamous hair. When was the last time someone was stupid enough to just ask her a question like that? In the most technical sense, she didn't actually know the answer to that. She didn't know when she was born, or where, but the medics had a good guess as to her age.

"The same age as you, Skywalker. Thirty-five."

The warning bells were already going off as soon as she said it. They were the same age, but he looked older than her, and there was a young man calling himself General Kenobi . . .

"I'm sixty," he said slowly, almost as though he himself didn't believe it. The implications of this temporal rift slapped Luke upside the head. Thirty-five, he thought, that would put them at the Caamas Document crisis, when he had gone off after a vision of Mara appearing lifeless in a pool of water--right around the time he'd proposed and they'd been married. But something told him...

"What was going on before your pod popped?" he asked quickly, suddenly very intense, looking her right in the eyes.

Mara was staring right back at him, feeling that intensity like a slap against her senses. She had the urge to back up, get away from this. From the look in his eyes, she wasn't going to enjoy any of this conversation.

"There was a rumor about the Bothans starting up, it has your sister scrambling all over the galaxy. I don't know any of the details, I've been busy with my own company. Karrde hasn't found a way to profit from this. Yet. I'm sure he will soon enough. Last thing I was remember was being on board the Jade's Fire, heading to meet with a customer."

"Not to interrupt," Obi-Wan broke in, clearly meaning to interrupt the cycle of cold shock and that hard rush of fear at being all out of time and space— he knew it well, having dealt so far with Luke who was at least an entire generation displaced, "But perhaps this can wait until we're seated, and have something to drink. There's no need to give each other heart attacks. Besides, you're both projecting. Anyone on the ship with any sensitivity to the Force will be able to hear exactly what you're feeling."

And by anyone, of course, he meant Anakin, Arha, and Sheeana. If they didn't want an audience, a quick retreat to the sensoriums, or the city, would be in order.

Like a chagrined youngling just learning control, Luke carefully locked down what he was feeling. Even so, he could feel it threatening to escape, pushing against the walls he put up to--well, everyone but Mara. He could never lock her out completely, he didn't have it in him, even now when he realized she had no idea... she wasn't...

"Yeah, we should go somewhere quiet," he heard himself say. It sounded as though it was coming from someone else.

"Back off, General. We don't need a babysitter." Mara's fingers tensed against Luke for a second while she flashed a look of irritation at the strange man that was not helping. They were officially nothing more than partners on multiple missions, occasionally teacher and student, but that didn't stop that flare of protectiveness. Luke was badly shaken, it was still obvious to her since he wasn't blocking it from her.

To say nothing about bringing up her sometimes hit and miss control. Mara never responded particularly well to that. She forced her fingers to relax again, her unaffected mask dropping back over her features like nothing had happened.

"Fine, Skywalker. Let's get out of this mob."

Obi-Wan's eyebrows took a brief scenic vacation to his hairline at Mara's half-snarled snapping. For a moment he felt completely superfluous. Unwanted, unneeded, without directive or authority, the bottom had fallen out of the conversation entirely. It made him pause, missing a step and trailing behind while he struggled to find again that willful suspension of horror that let Obi-Wan maintain the calmness in this utterly inescapable nightmare of a reality. It was only a wobble, but it rocked him off balance, and he knew he leaked it, if only for a moment, if only to Luke who seemed so well attuned.

Then he followed them, frowning but without comment. What a mess.

Luke turned to look back at Obi-Wan, having recovered enough to be apologetic (and sending him as much in the Force before respectfully backing off) and leading the way out into a less crowded part of the observation deck.

"You could have been a little nicer," he murmured quietly to Mara. "He didn't mean anything by it."

Anakin came into view as he walked up to them, having already been on the observation deck. He seemed like he was about to say something about how secluded he had been keeping when he noticed the woman standing with Luke. He could sense something about her, but he wasn't quite sure what.

Looking to Luke with a bit of confusion. "Ah, a friend of yours?" Obviously Anakin didn't trust anyone until he knew them better.

He shifted his gaze back to Mara and bowed his head. "Oh, forgive me. My name is Anakin Skywalker."

Her temper was still up, but she didn't get a chance to reply to Luke's comment. Instead there was yet another person walking up to them, one that had a familiar feel to him. Something that she had felt before, but with a very different look.

Mara was rapidly approaching just how much she could deal for one day. And being introduced to Anakin Skywalker when he was younger than her? That was more than she would usually be willing to deal with on any day. Like throwing a switch, she pulled herself in tightly. A simple, self defense response to the situation, taught to her by Palpatine herself.

"Mara Jade. And yeah, I'm a friend of the this Skywalker."

Ah, Anakin. At least here Obi-Wan knew where he stood, He fell back into step and put a gentle, restraining hand on his former padawan's shoulder. Calm, spoke his touch, and patience, that same unassuming gesture he'd used a hundred times or more, "Mara Jade, this is my former padawan, Anakin Skywalker. A very fine Jedi Knight, by any reasonable standard."

Edited 2009-10-03 04:19 (UTC)

As if things weren't complicated enough. Luke collected himself carefully, even managing a smile at his father. "Hello," he said, glad to see Anakin but feeling the tension rise exponentially. And Mara had completely shut herself down.

Newbie Meet N' Greet

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